Regeneration art showcased in new Chatham exhibition

You are invited to send a reporter and/or photographer to the launch of the My Space Regenerated art exhibition at the New Art Centre, 272 Chatham High Street, on Tuesday 11 March 2008 between 2 and 4pm. The exhibition runs from Wednesday 12 to Saturday 15 March, between 10am and 5pm each day. Participating artists are exploring the journey from personal to public space, drawing on the local Medway landscape for inspiration. My Space Regenerated is an art and design project written, programmed and delivered by Medway-based artist Fiona Watt, a freelance theatre designer/scenographer working throughout the country. Guided by Fiona and fellow artists Jane Pitt, Sara Norling and Margherita Gramegna, participants have used model-making, sound, video and photography to record their individual responses to the regeneration theme. The My Space Regenerated project has been funded by the North Kent Global Grants Programme, comprising Medway Council, the European Social Fund and the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA). As part of the project, learners from the Medway Council-delivered Re-Ignite social regeneration programme recently visited Tate Modern art gallery in London. Project Re-Ignite provides employment support for Medway people who are either unemployed or on low wages. Fiona said: ”Tate Modern is one of the most successful regeneration projects in the country. This was a fantastic opportunity for this particular disadvantaged group of learners to experience what can be achieved in a regenerated space.” Tate Modern offers workshops specifically tailored to the themes being explored by community groups, who are often first-time visitors to the gallery. Since coming to Medway, Fiona Watt has become interested in how she might engage with the regeneration process using the communication tools that she uses in her existing practice, such as model-making, research and storyboarding to explore ideas around identity and ownership of space. She is one of the artists featured in the recently-launched Made in Medway book. Her work can currently be seen in Collaborators: Design for Performance at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, an exhibition of contemporary British theatre design that runs until November 2008. Project Re-Ignite provides employment support for people who are either unemployed or on low wages in five Medway neighbourhoods: All Saints, Brook Lines, Melville and Brompton, Strood South, and Twydall. It is funded and supported by Medway Council, SEEDA, the European Union ERDF Interreg 3A programme, and Church in Society. For further information, residents can contact Medway Council’s Customer Services on 01634 333333. CONTACT DETAILS: Fiona Watt, Lead Artist: call 07887 793638 or email watt_fiona@hotmail.com The New Art Centre: call Jo Harwood or Mark Barnes on 01634 812108 or email mail@thenac.co.uk . Website: www.thenac.co.uk [end]